This invention is related to athlete's landing cushions. More specifically, this invention is related to athlete's landing cushions used for pole vaulting wherein the cushion is constructed with a notch in the forward portion of the cushion.
Numerous types of athlete's landing cushions are known in the prior art to cushion the fall of athletes in sports such as high jumping, pole vaulting and others. The landing cushions used heretofore for pole vaulting are provided with a notch in a forward edge portion of the cushion structure to fit around the pole receiving end portion of the pole vault box. The pole vault box is normally mounted in the ground and the notched portion of the landing cushion is positioned in a spaced relation around the deepest end portion of the pole vault box. These prior art landing cushions have a notch with vertically upright sidewalls extending from the ground to the top of the cushion. When a pole vaulter makes a vault the pole rests in the deepest end portion of the pole vault box and the mid portion of the pole bends considerably as the athlete rises through the air at the beginning of the jump. In using the described prior art landing cushions with the notches having the vertically disposed sidewalls, it is a common occurrence that the lower portion of the pole will strike the sidewall of the notch, thus, interfering with the athlete's performance. Although contact of the pole and the sidewall of the cushion may only be minimal in terms of force it has been found significant enough to substantially effect a pole vaulter's performance. Additionally, because of the fact that with these prior art devices the pole might strike the landing cushions in the notch area it creates a psychological impairment on the athlete's preparedness for the jump which can be detrimental to his performance.
No athlete's landing cushions are known in the prior art that have a notch structure in the forward portion of the cushion which is constructed so that it will not interfere with a pole vaulter's pole when making a jump.